Political Beats

Scot and Jeff discuss the first part of Tom Waits’s career (1973-1982) with Damon Linker.

Introducing the Band:

Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) are joined by guest Damon Linker. Damon is a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, and publishes a Substack newsletter titled “Notes from the Middleground.” Follow him at @DamonLinker on Twitter.

Damon’s Music Pick: Tom Waits

There’s a world going on underground, and Political Beats is here to explore it, in all of its seedy, alcohol sodden, and extremely performative oddity. Yes, its time to begin a journey into the heart of Saturday night, as we explore the career of Tom Waits, one of the modern musical era’s most notably stubborn, and brilliant, eccentrics. It may be difficult to explain the charms of a wrecked-voiced jazz pianist sketching portraits of the dissolute Los Angeles nightlife of the mid-1970s, but during this first part of Waits’s career -- when he climbed out of the Laurel Canyon rock scene to carve his own unique furrow as an affected beat-poet drunkard -- the man’s albums speak for themselves.

During the second half of this two-part Political Beats retrospective, the gang will explore the fearless (and endlessly influential) art-rock musical turn Waits took during the 1980s. And there is true continuity between both phases -- at the end of the day, Tom Waits has never forgotten how to write a beautiful, memorable piano melody. But for now, settle in for a trip as far away from “rock and roll,” in some ways as Political Beats has ever traveled outside of Willie Nelson. Prepare to settle in with a drink and a smoke in a jazz lounge at 1:00 a.m. The night is only just getting started.